The Plan

Our plan was to cruise as long as it is fun. Our definition of fun is at least 80%-20% on the fun-to-suck ratio with an ideal fun-to-suck ratio of 90%-10%.

Of course, fun is in the eye of the beholder and we've been told a number of times that people are looking forward to our travelogue because they would rather watch it than live it. It's good to know yourself!

We purchased the boat in early 2007 and began the process of moving aboard, learning to really sail and outfitting the boat for cruising.

On June 16, 2010 we cut the docklines and headed North up the inside of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. We weren't certain where we would go but had some hopes of sailing to the Queen Charlottes. The summer Pacific high had set in solidly so instead of battling headwinds we turned down the West coast of Vancouver Island and spent 3 months enjoying it before being chased off the outside by a series of low pressure systems in late September.

Winter of 2010 was half-time at the dock for part time employment (for Carol) and boatwork (for Livia & Carol) and half-time having other types of adventures (land, air and sea) followed by a month long boat project intensive.

In mid-April 2011 we began full-time boat travel again. We went up the inside passage to the Haida Gwaii and headed down the West Coast of Vancouver Island. In late July 2011 we sailed from Tofino to San Francisco. We spent 7 weeks in San Francisco and continued down the coast of California before crossing into Mexico in mid-October.

Here is where things get really hazy. Do we stay in Mexico for a long time? Do we cruise Central & South America? Do we head West that first April (2012) for the Galapagos and then the S. Pacific or wait another year? Do we completely change our mind and head East through the Panama Canal?

South Pacific - here we come. We're heading West in the Spring of 2012. Can we work it to stay multiple seasons in the S Pacific? Will we want to? Where will we go after that?

We left French Polynesia reluctantly (after falling in love with the country) for the Cook Islands. After visiting several Cook Islands we made the decision to sail against the tradewinds and return to French Polynesia. At the end of the non-cyclone season we put our boat on the hard in the Tuamotus and flew back to N America to apply for a long stay visa in order to spend a year cruising in French Polynesia before continuing West.

We returned to French Polynesia in March of 2013 and are currently cruising in the country. We plan to leave French Polynesia in July of 2014. Where next? Our current plan is to make our way West, ending up in the Marshall Islands for hurricane season. After that, we're really guessing.

With El Nino making an ambiguous appearance, in 2014 we ultimately decided to continue Westbound from French Polynesia to Fiji, instead of heading the Marshalls based on the unlikely (but increased) likelihood of seeing a typhoon. We left Estrellita in a keel pit in Fiji and had 5 months of land travel.

The plan at this point is to spend the bulk of the cruising season in Fiji and to head north to the Marshall Islands at the end of the season. Unless something cool comes up and plans change again :)

In 2015, we spent the first 2/3 of the cruising season in Fiji and then had three months in New Caledonia before crossing to Australia. We spent Christmas and New Years in Sydney and then headed up to Pittwater where we put Estrellita up for sale in early 2016. She has since sold.

Since early 2016, we have been back in Canada, working and catching up on our rock climbing.

I love this description because I have the same sentiments. My boyfriend, however bought an old boat that needed more fixing up than anticipated, so our fun-to-suck ration is more like 40 to 60 right now. Hoping we are almost through the "sucky" part, though. I think you have a sound plan. Just found your blog btw and will be checking back! Good luck!

Great boat choice. My fun-to-suck ratio recently plummetted, as we returned to full time work in Seattle from 2 1/2 year cruise from Seattle to Central America. Check out www.leascotia.com if you're interested.I'm happy to help or pass on any info if you'd like - hoping to get out there again in a few years.Sail on...TrevorSV Lea Scotia

Just watched your video on gravity filling propane tanks. We did that on Raiatea at Uturoa tied up to the seawall. It took us two days since we had to figure it all out and find the fittings before trying to fill our tanks. We were quite the discussion area while we did that. We probably should have gone farther off then the 30 yards we were from the seawall with all the boats. It would have been nice to have seen your video first. It is amazingly simple but at the time it seemed hard but that may have been because the locals weren't as nice as some places and the local fittings were hard to find. I certainly hope that you intend to go to Vanuatu before you leave the area. I couldn't tell from your site but I didn't look too deep. It was our favorite. Nice blog. Ours was maggiedrum.blogspot.com. We sold the boat in NZ and moved back to Anacortes, but just boat another cruiser so who knows. You have a very nice blog. Fair winds.